The Fallout
by SuperFirst
Summary: Parvati's secret is out! Now she's ready to help a distraught ghost find closure using her new gift, but when all is revealed, she may not have a leg to stand on. This story is a non-canon Dramione, intended for laughs and happy readers.


This one-shot was just a blurb I wrote while I was home alone and bored. I don't plan to take it any further and enjoy the what-if's. Happy reading!

* * *

"Are you _sure_ you've got the gift?"

"Well of course I am. How else would I be able to see him standing there?"

"… Maybe you're mental?"

"I am not! How dare you?"

"Well I'm only saying. You can't well go around telling people you've seen _HIM _skulking around the corridors, now can you?"

"I can, actually. Because _I've_ got the sight, and—"

"Parvati! Lavender! Wait up?"

The girls ceased their quick pace toward the Great Hall in order to allow their friend and fellow classmate to catch up. Both girls tittered, smiling brightly and straightening their hair as he approached.

"Hello Harry!"

"Hello Harry!"

Glaring at each other, they knocked elbows in their attempt to be front and center when he came to a halt before them. Harry revealed his boyish grin, hailing both girls as he did so, and they all stood, smiling and staring at each other for a moment before the dark brows on Harry's face began to furrow in confusion. He looked between the ladies, smile faltering, searching for a confirmation of some sort.

"Ouch!" Parvati cried as Lavender crushed her baby toe. "What was that for?"

"You have something to share with Harry, don't you?" Lavender said in her hushed, _I've got a secret_, way.

Harry looked to Parvati, waiting patiently thought he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. When she said nothing, he shook his head at her.

"Uh, Parvati, I'd love to have a chat with you sometime, really. But I've got Arithmancy next, you see? So, I've really got to go I'm afraid. Sorry."

Surprise shown on Parvati's pretty face, her eyebrows jumping with the news that he'd been seeking her out.

"Whatever gave you the idea I needed to have a chat, Harry?" she asked hesitantly, knowing Lavender was listening intently for plot holes.

Harry, wary of whatever the girls were trying to pull, snatched a folded piece of parchment from his trousers and gave it a wave.

"The note you left in my potions book? Asking me to meet you in this corridor… at this time? Says it's important and I won't want to miss it?" he replied.

Parvati stood tall as Lavender squared a look at her.

"Oh! That. Well, yes. I did want to speak with you… _privately_?" she said, giving Lavender a hard nudge.

Lavender rolled her eyes and snapped her tongue against the roof of her mouth as she turned abruptly toward the entrance to the Great Hall.

"I'll just be in here then, Parv. _Do_ let me know if you _see_ anything… _interesting_, while you're out here, Harry?" she smiled provocatively, showing all of her pearly teeth as she backed into the entrance of the dining room.

Harry nodded vaguely, and turned once again to face Parvati, who was now shuffling her feet and twitching a bit where she stood. He brought both of his hands up to steady her, concern showing in his bright green eyes.

"Is everything alright Parvati? You aren't looking so well."

Sighing and brushing Harry's hands away gently, Parvati shook her head and pouted at the floor.

"It happens sometimes, when I—I mean I… sometimes when I…" she stammered.

Harry stepped up to rub gentle circles on her back, hoping someone else would happen along to ease him out of this situation, but it appeared all other students were either inside the Great Hall for a snack, or were already at their next class—which he was late to.

"It's alright Parvati, if you don't want to say. I have a free period tomorrow and we could discuss, whatever was meant to be discussed here?" he tried.

Giggling lightly, Parvati shook her long dark hair away from her face. She looked to the left a bit, just over Harry's shoulder, towards something near the corridor's entrance. Staring at it blankly, she mouthed a few words and nodded before turning back to Harry. He stared at her, mouth ajar and hand motionless on her back. Then he turned to look over his shoulder at the empty entranceway.

"Was someone there just now? I didn't see anyone…" he asked.

"Yes and no. It's what I wanted to talk to you about… I hoped you could maybe find Hermione and bring her here?" she asked hopefully.

Shocked, Harry stepped away from his classmate taking his hand and gentle features with him.

"Hermione? Just what are you playing at Parvati? She… Hermione's… just. No. I won't do that. And why would you ask? You know she hates it down here, so I wouldn't. Just _no_!"

Shoulders tense and ridgid, Harry made to leave but was held back by Parvati's warm hand on his elbow. He looked back at her, taking notice of her eyes, which were wide and desperate.

"Please, Harry. You don't understand."

"What don't I understand? We've all just come back to Hogwarts, after the most _hellish_ year of our lives, and I've lost my friend. One of my _best_ friends, and so many others. And you're asking me to go and speak with her _ghost_? To bring it _here_ where she _died_? No!"

Tears welled in Harry's eyes as he rushed off, uninterrupted this time. He took the stairs toward the upper halls two at a time, and nearly ran straight through the greyish, holographic figure of Hermione Granger. Halting, Harry rubbed his face as he took notice of her, then brought the fingers of his right hand up and held it near her face as though to touch her. She stood silently, peeking around the corner in her sneakers, denim jeans, sweatshirt, and cloak. The last outfit she wore before her time ran out. Her face, free of any marks, bruises, or cuts, peered nervously into the staircase, then lifted to look directly into Harry's glasses.

She smiled and whispered to Harry, "Are they talking about me again?"

Shaking his head, Harry took his glasses down and rubbed them with his sleeve.

"Of course not, love. I think Parvati's just got it out for me again. She had Lavender's help this time." He grinned.

Hermione giggled and floated backwards, toward a window ledge. Harry waited to see if she would wander off, as she sometimes did in the middle of a conversation. Her ghost was almost fully formed and would retain a much greater attention span soon. Harry looked forward to the day when they could have conversations about academia and Scrivenshaft's again. He watched and found himself releasing a breath as she decided not to flow away from him but turned at the window and patted the seat next to her. Swallowing his emotions, Harry sat down on the ledge, facing toward his friend.

"I hope you know, I'm ok Harry." She started, hair flowing in a gentle breeze he couldn't feel.

Harry nodded, eyes watering with the effort.

"Of course, Hermione. I know that. I'm just glad you're here. With me. You know?"

Hermione smiled serenely. "I do. It's wonderful to be here with you, too."

Feeling a sense of calm come over himself, Harry leaned back into the stone, sensing the thrum of magic woven around and within the wall.

"I feel like I'm at home now, Hermione. And I'm afraid this will be the last time I feel that way."

"Nonsense. You have _Ron_." She giggled.

Grinning, Harry sat forward and clasped his hands together.

"You want to hear a secret?" he asked furtively.

"Only if I must."

"Right then, I think Ron is seeing someone. A Slytherin. He doesn't want me to know about it, obviously, but I think… I think it's Parkinson… and I think they're _happy_."

Hermione sat still, eyeing Harry boldly as she assessed what he'd just revealed to her.

"And how would it make you feel if he _were_ seeing her?" she asked.

It was all the confirmation Harry needed, but he was unmoved by Hermione's failed attempt at nonchalance. He laid down his brows so they were close to covering his eyes and pursed his lips at her.

"How long have you known, why haven't you told me until now, and how did you find out?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and let her jaw open wide as she prepared for a signature lecture.

"_Honestly,_ Harry. I may be deceased, but I've not lost my faculties entirely. Besides, how could anyone miss that silly look on his face? He's even passed me in the corridors and not noticed. You'd think he'd notice Dean gearing up with Peeves, but no. He just wanders aimlessly around, smiling and whoever knows what else. For whoever knows why…"

"And what does Hermione know?"

"_Well_, you know I'm not a gossip, but I may have run into them… snogging… a time or two."

"And you didn't think to tell me? Cor! Hermione."

Hermione squished her mouth to one side and pressed her lips into each other as her head tilted.

"You aren't upset with him, are you? I'd like to think the both of you will find some sort of happiness."

"You don't really think Parkinson's making him happy, do you?"

"I don't know, honestly. But if she is… or if she does. Then I'm ok with that."

"Even though the two of you never got to…?"

"Yes, Harry" she laughed breathlessly, "Even though we never."

The sound of heavy shoes thudding up the staircase brought Harry back to his senses. He scrambled to stand and hide as he was currently missing his third period Arithmancy lesson. Lavender and Parvati stomped by, speaking in hushed tones in what Harry could only describe as a _plotting_ manner. He sighed as he got up from his hiding place behind the busty statue of Lysette the Gorgeous.

"And what have those two been up to lately?" Hermione's breathless, airy voice drifted from behind.

"Not sure… Parvati's been leaving me notes to meet her, but every time I try, she clams up."

"Well you aren't the most approachable these days, Harry."

"Beg pardon?"

The two shared a laugh and grew quiet as Lavender and Parvati swung around the upper staircases and headed back for their direction.

"I swear Parv—that's where he went. You shouldn't have brought it up."

"I had to! If not me, then who is going to tell her? I'm the only one who can see him!"

"Just what do you think she'll say when she finds out about him though? I wager she'll be upset. Maybe upset with you, too."

"Oh goodness, I hope not. I'm only trying to help. I swear!"

"Well, Harry didn't go to Arithmancy, where else could he have gone besides Moaning Myrtle's?"

"Must you call it that? Since Myrtle's moved on, it's just a bathroom."

"Reckon Hermione will want it next?"

"—I should certainly hope not!"

"Hermione!" Both girls shrieked.

Harry and Hermione both stood in the corner, watching shame brew over Parvati and Lavender's faces. Sharing a glance, they stepped out of the shadows and retook their spaces on the ledge. Parvati stepped up hesitantly then, and motioned for her pal to stay back as she tried once again to gather her thoughts.

"Hermione, I'm so glad I've run into you. You're quite difficult to come upon, you know?"

Hermione tilted her head in thought, glancing once again at Harry, who merely shrugged.

"I s'pose that could be true… I mean, I am a bit of a specter these days," she joked. "I understand you've been searching for me, but why?"

Parvati looked around at the small group, wringing her hands together and gnawing on her bottom lip. For a few moments, everybody simply sat and watched her, but then she squared her shoulders and inhaled deeply.

"I'm just going to come out and say it! Hermione, I have the gift of sight and you are wanted in the main corridor by Draco Malfoy. He wishes to speak with you, and only you."

Shooting to his feet, Harry glared at his housemate.

"Are you taking the mickey?" he asked severely. "Hermione isn't going anywhere she doesn't want to be, and what the bloody hell do you mean _Malfoy_ wishes to see her? Are you mad? Malfoy _**ran**_. As in, the bloody coward got off scot-free and hasn't been seen since. You mean to tell me that, that bleeding death eater scum is in this castle? Right now?" he seethed.

Nervously, Parvati edged back toward Lavender, who grasped her arm and tugged her nearer- out of harm's way.

"No, Harry. I'm not saying any of those things… per se."

"Then what _are_ you saying?" Hermione asked as her grey coloring took on a pale hue.

"You realize, if he's here and you've said nothing all this time, what that could mean for you, Parvati?" she asked gently.

Parvati nodded her head and gestured down toward the staircase.

"Please, Hermione? He's desperate and I'm the only one who can see him. I don't know how it happened and he won't tell me. But Malfoy… he didn't survive the war. He's not here physically. But his spirit… it's here- like he died right here in the castle. And he want's only to speak with you. He says that if I return without you once more, that he'll disappear forever. I think he means to make amends?"

"But Parvati… you've never been gifted with the sight before. How is it you've managed this now?" Lavender asked.

Parvati looked back over her shoulder, wrinkling her forehead and pursing her lips at her friend. Huffing, she placed both hands on her hips and started for the staircase—completely ignoring the stunned looks on Harry and Hermione's faces at the news that Malfoy may be dead. She was aware that everyone, including the faculty thought he was in France with his mother, who was serving a period of five years house arrest without magic. The fact that the French Embassy had offered the British Ministry to shelter him was enough to believe Malfoy had made it to the border and would never be seen or heard from again.

"I don't like going down there" Hermione whispered gently.

Harry reached out for her hand, but when her fingers simply slipped through his, he curled his fingers slowly until they made a fist.

"Even if that lousy git _is_ down there, and even if he _is_ dead, he's got no reason to square things with Hermione."

"That's not entirely true!" Lavender chimed in. "According to Firenze, the deceased sometimes cannot or refuse to move on until they've settled pressing issues from their mortal lives which prevent them from finding peace in the afterlife. Who's to say that Malfoy isn't contrite over what happened because of his terrible views towards muggle-born's?"

"Especially if he lost his life having never gotten to apologize to any of them?" Parvati agreed.

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Harry turned toward Hermione.

"It's up to you, Hermione. I personally don't believe Malfoy is anywhere in the vicinity, but if you choose to go down to the main floor and see for yourself if you've got a ghostly stalker, then I'll go with you. You know nothing down there can hurt you."

Nodding, Hermione appeared to mull things over. She hated seeing the magically replaced stones on the floor where she'd bled out. She hated finding no signs of the scorch marks which were singed into the base of the walls where her head had lain. She hated that the school seemed to have erased all signs of her and her memory. Most of all, she hated that the one bloke who'd started it all had simply left, and left her to die. But if Malfoy had paid with his life, well, she'd just have to see about that.

"I'll go to the top of the staircase. Tell him that I am here, and we'll see what happens next?" she offered.

Releasing a breath, Parvati allowed her shoulders to sag. She grabbed Lavenders hand and dragged the blond behind her as she descended the stairs into the main corridor. Both Harry and Hermione waited at the top of the stairs, just like she'd said. Harry looked at Hermione from the corner of his eye, trying to assess how she might feel about this. If both she and Malfoy were, indeed, the new school specters, how would they get on for what could be an eternity? Would she wish to move on to the afterlife and leave him here for good? Or would she choose to remain at his side for so long as she could? This new Hermione was far more relaxed than she was in life. He knew she held no worldly grudges or worried about physical things. She'd even told him that her parents, who could no longer recall having had a daughter, were better off with their new lives- because she couldn't imagine them surviving and losing her twice.

Hearing a small intake of 'breath' from Hermione's see-through spirit, Harry blinked rapidly to bring himself back from his wonderings. He could see now, down in the corridor, next to Parvati, who was holding hands with Lavender and chanting, a grey shadow began to form.

"It couldn't be…?" Harry whispered.

"Merlin, Harry. I think it is!" Hermione replied.

The two of them kept watching as the grey shadow formed and enlarged until a fully-fleshed out spirit stood before them. He wore grey trousers, a white oxford dress shirt, black dragon-leather loafers, and his cloak. The wisps of blond hair about his forehead flowed back and forth in a breeze no one living could feel, and he stood tall with his hands in his pockets.

Parvati's chanting got louder and louder, the excitement within her clear as Lavender joined in until their nonsense words became a cacophony. Malfoy stood there next to them, staring up into the tower staircases, a stern expression on his pale face. He, too, no longer bore the signs of danger and turmoil in his skin as all marks, bruises, and pains healed with his death.

Malfoy took one step, and then another toward the stairs, before halting and looking back at Parvati, who nodded encouragingly at him while she and Lavender chanted continuously. Malfoy shook his head at her, his brows drawn down over his eyes and his mouth forming a terrible scowl.

"Parvati, I think you can shut up now! We see him." Hermione stated as she moved slowly down the staircase, Harry close behind. He walked with his mouth hung open and eyes blown wide, unbelieving of what he's seeing. Parvati quieted only a little and kept humming over her words as she spoke.

"Mmmmm. I can't Hermione! Mmmmm. He's only mmmmm here because I have the MmmmMmm sight! Mmmmmmm. Only _you_ mmmMmmm can see him now, too!"

"Bloody hell, Patil! When I said I needed your help, I didn't mean that only you could see me! Shut the bloody hell up!" Malfoy sneered.

Gasping, Lavender abruptly stopped her chanting and opened her eyes. She stared momentarily at Malfoy in a stricken way before turning her eyes and upturning her nose at Parvati.

"The sight, have you? Clearly, we all can see Malfoy. He's just a bloody ghost!"

"Oy! I'm more than a ghost… whoever you are. Now leave me and Granger alone so I can say what I have to say in peace."

Malfoy's demands were not lost on Harry, who remained by Hermione's side.

"You can shove right off, Malfoy!" he growled.

Malfoy stared Harry down, unwilling to speak to him, but wishing him away. In the distant background, Parvati and Lavender could be heard arguing over what constitutes actual precognition and what simply doesn't count because anyone could do it. Hermione stared at the ghostly form of Draco Malfoy, her hands over her mouth and her eyes sad.

"You stayed?" she asked him quietly.

Malfoy shrugged his shoulders, glancing once more to Harry, who still appeared disgusted with his presence.

"You thought I'd left? Tch! Shows how smart you were, Granger. I couldn't leave you…"

Harry's face screwed up into a ball as he rotated back and forth between Malfoy and Hermione.

"I told you to go!" she said to Malfoy, throwing a hand in his general direction.

"Well, I told you no!" he shouted in reply.

"Merlin! Malfoy, you're always so difficult! Would it have killed you to just listen to me for once?"

Malfoy gestured to his transparent body, a smirk on his face. Unbelievably, Hermione cracked a smile, then giggled into her hand over his uninspired joke.

"Were you very upset, when you thought I'd left?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged, thinking back to how she thought he'd fled school to live his days in France without any mind to her or her death.

"I didn't know you were here…" she mumbled.

Draco drifted closer to the staircase, beckoning to Hermione with his hands as he floated above the floor. Disregarding Harry, who was too stunned by their apparent conversation about each other, she floated down the case to meet him. Her hands, which were unable to physically touch Harry's, clasped with Malfoy's as they stared into each other's eyes.

"You're so dense, Granger. I never left you. I was with you—straight up until the end."

"I couldn't have known."

"I know. You were busy being passed out. And I was bleeding, but…"

"But… we were together?"

"Finally."

"Finally."

The pair of ghosts continued speaking as they began to drift off into the walls, and Harry sat down on his bottom in the empty corridor in front of the Great Hall. Shaken, he nodded his head and made a decision.

"That's it… I'm getting myself a girlfriend." He whispered to himself.

End


End file.
